


thy will be done

by middnighter



Category: The Exorcist (TV)
Genre: Gen, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21845836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middnighter/pseuds/middnighter
Summary: God spoke to Marcus Keane again.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	thy will be done

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Anne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anne/gifts).



> I hope you like this story

God spoke to Marcus Keane again.

Marcus sat down on the edge of the pier, his heart so full of love and light that it was almost painful.

He watched the clouds drift in the sky and the seagulls gather around the small fishing boats coming back home to the harbor, one after the other. 

Peter joined him when the sky started changing colors.

“So this is where you’ve been,” said Peter, standing next to him.

Marcus looked at him and stood up. “I need to go for a while.” 

Peter was looking at the sea. “It’s a nice evening,” he said. “Stay home tonight. You can leave tomorrow.

“I will come back,” Marcus said. “I’ll come back to you. There is one more path I have to walk.”

They walked home, and ate, and slept. When Marcus woke up, Peter was still asleep in the bed that had become theirs. He packed a duffel bag, put on his coat and his hat, and left a note in the kitchen promising to write.

* * *

Marcus knew that Tomas needed help, but there wasn’t a lot else that he knew. His number went straight to voicemail, which was not surprising. Tomas and Mouse were on the run, they wouldn’t make themselves easy to find. Marcus started driving before having a plan. 

He couldn’t track down Tomas and Mouse, but if he followed demonic activity, they were bound to run into each other. Marcus just needed it to happen sooner than later. 

He couldn’t go through the usual channels. The Vatican was compromised, and Bennett —the only man there that he still trusted— wasn’t picking up his phone either. He would have to use other networks. 

In his Bible, between the first two pages of the book of Job, he kept a piece of paper covered in names, phone numbers and addresses of people outside the Church who had helped him when he had needed it. It would have to do.

He made a few phone calls. First to a rabbi, then a couple of cryptid-hunters. They promised to call him back if they noticed anything strange. 

The third person he called had a PhD in linguistics and ancient history, and her insight had been invaluable when he had needed to translate writings left by a demon. She told him about the strange sightings around an abandoned church, of screams and light and writings that strangely reminded her of some of the Arameic texts she studied.

* * *

When he found Tomas and Mouse, they were in the middle of an argument. They stopped abruptly when they saw him get out of his car. 

“Marcus,” Mouse said. “Thank God you’re here. You need to talk some sense into your apprentice.”

“It can work, I’m sure of it,” Tomas said

“What’s going on?” Marcus asked. 

Tomas looked at Mouse, who nodded at him with exasperation. “Tell him your stupid plan.”

“We found Bennett. He got integrated.”

Marcus furrowed his brows. “With Bennett gone, we have lost one of our last remaining allies. Where have you buried him?”

“He’s still alive,” Mouse said.

“What?”

“Listen,” Tomas said, “I think we are wrong about integration.”

Marcus stayed silent and listened to him, despite his reserves. 

“We have been seeing integration as the goal of a possession,” Tomas said, “as the ultimate corruption of the soul. I don’t think that it’s what’s going on. Corrupting the soul also corrupts the body, it makes it sick, it destroys it. So why are integrated people so normal? Their bodies should be decaying, like— like zombies. But they’re not.”

Mouse was looking to the side, clearly having heard these arguments before.

Tomas kept on with his explanation. “Integration does not destroy the soul. I’m proof of that, I’ve brought people back from it, something you thought was impossible. Possession is inherently coercive, but integration isn’t, not in the same way at least. What if integration goes both ways?”

“What do you mean?” Marcus asked.

“Possession aims at corrupting the soul, bringing it down to a demon’s level. What if— what if integration was about the demon, not about the human souls? What if, through integration, demons could use the bond they have to the human soul to— to earn God’s forgiveness, to rise.”

“You’re talking about turning demons back into angels.”

Tomas nodded.

“I keep telling him it’s lunacy,” Mouse said. “Please tell him, maybe he’ll listen to you.”

“I know it’s just a theory,” Tomas shot back, “but we have to try. We have Bennett right here. I can do my thing and reach inside of him, see if it can be done.”

Marcus was about to object when he felt his heart sing, like a little nudge in the right direction. 

“It’s worth a try,” he said. “We have run out of other options. If anyone is strong enough to handle something experimental like that, it’s Bennett.” 

Mouse let out a sigh. “I don’t think you’ll find any demon able to feel enough compassion and love to rise.”

“They’re fallen angels,” Tomas said. “They can remember what it feels like. And if they can't, I'll make them.”

* * *

Bennett was sitting on the bed, looking healthy and serene. The only thing disturbing that peaceful image was the way he was restrained, heavy chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles. He did not look like someone who needed an exorcism. 

“Marcus,” he said, his voice both surprised and pleased. “I was wondering what happened to you.”

Marcus ignored him. “Are you ready?” he asked Tomas. 

“Yes,” Tomas said, determined. 

“This is different from anything we’ve done before,” Mouse said. “Are you sure you’ll be able to find your way back to us?”

“I don’t know,” Tomas said. “But I have to try.”

Tomas sat down next to the bed and reached for Bennett’s hand. As soon as he touched it, Tomas’s body went limp. It began.

Marcus and Mouse started praying.

* * *

They didn’t know how much time had passed when Tomas slowly blinked awake. He looked exhausted, and Mouse helped him to his feet.

“So?” she asked. “Did it work?”

Before Tomas could answer, Bennett’s eyes opened. They were entirely white. 

“Thank you,” Bennett said, and his voice sounded otherworldly, beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

“You’re welcome,” Marcus said after a moment of silence. “Can you tell us your name?”

“I am Devon Bennett. I am also Zachary. I have—” he furrowed his eyebrows, as if fighting a headache, “I have a lot of memories to sort.”

“The Church had grown corrupted,” Marcus said. “We could need the help of someone like you.” 

“Tomas showed it to me. I wanted to apologize for the role I had in that. I was misguided and in a lot of pain. I will do everything I can to help.”

Marcus looked at Tomas, who was wearing a tired, satisfied smile. From the corner of his eye, he saw bright wings flutter around Bennett, so bright that they seemed to be made of light. It could be a trick, a demon playing with them and making them see what they wanted to see, but Marcus doubted it. The familiar feeling in his chest was back, that feeling of love and divine perfection.

The chains fell from Bennett’s wrists, like undone by an invisible hand. His wings spread —there were three pairs of them, Marcus noticed. 

“We will meet again,” the angel promised. 

The next moment, he was gone. 

The task ahead of them was still huge. The corruption ran deep in the Church. But Marcus felt hopeful, exhilarated even, in ways he hadn’t felt in years. The feat Tomas accomplished was extraordinary, and they now had a mighty ally on their side.

They could win.


End file.
